


Fleet Maneuvers

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: For Family [10]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complicated Relationships, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, these two idiot are so complicated at each other!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 19:38:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7451500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vader and Ahsoka are en route to get Vader's suit upgraded, but there's a few Fleet issues to tend, and another emotional bomb to defuse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fleet Maneuvers

The impact of a solid Togruta fist into his shoulder, away from circuitry of his chest, was not exactly what Vader expected as he exited his meditation chamber.

"Why'd you have to go and take away their names?!"

He did not reel, even as her anger slammed against him. He caught hold of both of her wrists, aware that her feet were as dangerous, as for a moment he started at her, uncomprehending. "What?" 

She snarled at him, kicking him with her heel in the duralloy of his kneecap, repeating, "Their _names_! You took their **names** , when you _know_ what those meant to them!! **Why**?!" 

The clones. She was angry and upset for the clones. That made more sense to him, and he wearily let go of her, even if it meant more blows to the suit.

"It was not my doing, Ahsoka. It was pushed through while I was still down, and completely in place by the time I took command again," he told her. "It would have been triply damaging to countermand those orders, given the suicide rate they were already experiencing."

She snarled at him, her blue eyes nearly snapping with flame, but she could taste truth in his words, and she crossed her arms across her chest rather than hit him again. She made herself think, not feel, listening to the explanation again. She could doubt him... or she could chose to believe. 

And also, there was all of the Emperor's meddling and control over _him_ to think about, too. He hadn't been able to fight what that kriffing monster wanted, was doing, had been as much a prisoner as her brothers... oh, she wanted her hands on that despicable slimy slippery Sith soul to kill him all over again. 

"...of course they were suiciding," she murmured, "all through the Army, because of what that bastard did to all of you. But we're going to fix it now, right?" 

"Yes, the few that still live," he told her. "And prevent the flesh-born troopers from being abused that way too," he added, though it was obvious he had far more sympathy for the clones. They'd been made, not enlisted.

She nodded, shifting her weight back and forth before she moved to lean against his chest again. "Good. They deserve better, too. ...did you really find all of the _vod'e_ and bring them here?" 

She wasn't going to poke at him about why there would have been so many suicides in the 501st... she knew what had happened in the Temple. So even though they hadn't had to turn on _their_ General -- her boys were better than that filthy slaughter. 

"There are a few I left at large," he admitted. "Too dangerous to bring in with the rest, because of their instabilities. Mostly Commanders, some Captains, a few sergeants. But the followers? Yes, I tracked them all and brought them here."

He had owed them that much, to bring them where he could shield them, as much as possible, from the influence of the Emperor's need to control everything. They would have each other that way, and the suicides had tapered off, once they had each other.

"I did not forbid their names in private, Ahsoka. They should still know their names, unless they were of the last two generations, and I would not be surprised if the veterans didn't secretly name them anyway."

Ahsoka nodded, lifting one hand to spread it on part of the bodysuit, near his shoulder, as she made herself calm down. "Okay. Okay. 

"More things to blame _him_ for, but it... we can fix it. We're _going_ to fix it. Okay." 

+++++

Ahsoka was laughing brightly as she peeled out of the flightsuit, having landed the TIE on its mark perfectly. Those few Fleet on duty had no idea what to make of the alien, of her joy, or of the fact that she was such a fixture at their Lord's side.

An attempt at mutiny on the third day, thinking he had grown soft, had been met with her at the head of an old-guard battalion of the Fist, Vader leading, and her pair of lightsabers flashing in quick moves that disabled weapons rather than killed.

Vader had not been so sparing, but he had focused on the officers, and she had not looked away. Now, the Fleet personnel afforded her respect, despite her alien looks, when she walked alone, or with the one sergeant that was a late-wave clone from Kamino.

"Yes, it was wonderful!" she told Vader, joining him to walk back to their quarters. They were only out of hyperspace to touch base with another Star Destroyer under the command of Horst Strage, an admiral. Vader thought the man was loyal, but wished to review him and his command staff, as the _Chimaera_ was ranked third among the Fleet that answered, currently, to Lord Vader.

He made a quiet, amused noise at her, the bright ripple of her joy a steadying buzz in the Force, and said only, "Good." The man he had been might have said 'I told you so', but he did not need to. "You were showboating," he added, mild, "the crews are going to be competing to match what you did." 

"Good. It will sharpen their skills," she said, fierce and bright, her teeth flashing sharply. "I heard over comms that the _Chimaera_ is due in the hour. Will you want me with you or not? Sergeant Kilo said that they run as human a ship as most in the Fleet, but he didn't know if the crew were bigots or not," she said. "I don't mind drawing their attention, to let you know better who to trust."

Kilo was a clone, and when Ahsoka wasn't with Vader directly, she was often with him, conversing in the rapid mix of Mando'a and Basic and Kaminoan that was common to the old troopers. Vader had noticed that she fell so easily into his company, even this many years after leaving the Order, and the GAR.

He tapped his fingers against his thigh for a moment, considering, then nodded once, sharply. "If you're certain you don't mind... then yes." 

It would be a good indication of who could already be trusted to rejoin the Republic, who might be, and who would need to be eliminated to keep the Republic safe. And it was wise of her to think of it. 

"Then I'll need a shower, and to change… I want to be very visibly Ahsoka Tano, Togruta, once called Fulcrum. That way, we can find our enemies, and try to help them find a better path." She then grimaced. "Or let them prove they're just fodder for rancors."

She then smiled up at him, even as the necessity of deaths rankled in the back of her mind. Why were people so driven as to put ambition and power ahead of decency?

Well, that was a question for elders to contemplate, even as she decided she would not wear the robe she had been using to help ease the _Exactor_ 's crew into coping with an alien aboard. No, she would stand tall at her _ori'vod_ 's side, her montrals and lekku on display. The feel of the Force would help her know who could learn tolerance, and who was a lost cause. She would work on the ones with promise… and ignore that her former Master was a hard, hard man in exacting punishment.

"Go, then," he agreed, opening their quarters for them to step inside, "and once they arrive, we will see what they are made of." 

++++

Captain Gilad Pelleaon walked beside Admiral Horst Strage to the conference room. He was still not certain where his full loyalty should be given. On the one head, he had served under the original Republic, had fought frequently for it during the Clone Wars. On the other, the Empire had expanded the Fleet and given more opportunity for a true, solid career.

And there was the fact that Darth Vader had personally assumed command of the loyal fleet. This was a large part of Gilad's hesitance. Perhaps with over fifty years of service, he should just cash out and retire back to Corellia or some other world and leave the political maneuvers to younger men.

The thought washed from his mind swiftly. He had enlisted young, forging his age, because the military called to him in all ways.

They settled in place with the full command staff, only to rise to their feet moments later when Darth Vader and a Togruta entered… and Gilad's memory flashed him a name for that woman, if he was remembering the marks of her cheeks and lekku correctly. Captain Rex had escorted Commander Ahsoka Tano aboard the _Leveler_ some many years before, before Gilad had lost the one woman he would have liked to share his life with.

Was this some kind of auspicious sign, or a warning, to have a memory of the past intrude so firmly in the arrival of a member of the past? Was she the New Republic's representative, given that she had been a member of the Jedi Order when he met her? 

Vader felt the flash of recognition from the ship's Captain, knew it was turned to his _ner'vod_ , and he studied the man sharply, pleased that from behind his lenses, no one but Ahsoka could tell the difference. The Captain remembered Ahsoka, felt... confused, but not disgusted or distressed, to see her. A good sign, then. "Gentlemen," he said, greeting them all, "you may be seated."

Admiral Strage gave a nod and took his seat. "Lord Vader, will you tell us plainly what has transpired in the last six months? The _Chimaera_ stands ready to serve, but there has been much information of conflict."

Ahsoka listened to him, feeling the Force… and she knew this man had been speaking to others, ones not of the Loyal Fleet. Her presence drifted to the others, noting the much older Captain… she knew him. Another ship, during the War… Pellaeon? Yes, she'd been with Rex, away from Skyguy for a time. Her impressions were favorable on him, both then and now. 

He hadn't been party to whatever had been discussed, and she knew, deep in her awareness, that the Captain and Admiral were only barely able to work as a team. She filed that away to share as her _ori'vod_ briefed the Admiral on the full version of events, revealing that the Emperor's duplicity in the Clone Wars had come to light, and that he'd been sealing bargains against the interests of the Empire with scum like Hutts and Black Sun.

That information gave Ahsoka more fodder to run with. She marked men as antagonistic because of her species, others as dismissive of the allegations of corruption. Most, however, were looking to Pelleaon, not Strage, for guidance, and the Captain was meeting all expectations for loyalty.

As her _ori'vod_ revealed that last, fury slammed through Pellaeon and some others, his jaw tightening, his already ramrod-straight spine somehow stiffening farther, and if he had had any ability to touch the Force, it would have roiled around him. She knew Vader caught it, knew that Pellaeon was lost to Strage if the contemplative man still listening evenly to Vader decided to shift from loyalty to the Republic to Tarkin, and wondered what would happen. 

Vader finished the briefing by laying out the new structure of the Republic Senate, and the charge of the Fleet now. Crafting that, she knew, had taken weeks of work, sharp discussions between committees of the Senate and her _ori'vod_ and some of the commanders, and she also knew that no-one was entirely happy with it. But there were thousands of pirate and smuggler bands, more than that of slavers and thieves, and the Fleet _was_ needed to combat them. 

The part of the orders that involved restoration of planetary governance to each individual world's government brought a new roil of upset, and a profound sense of honest dismay from the Captain. 

"How will we get things done with _bureaucracy_ fighting us?" Pellaeon finally asked, his eyes focusing intently on Vader.

"Systems that do not give adequate support to Fleet maneuvers will not have Fleet protection, simply put," the imposing man said, having had that concern himself in revamping the connection between the Senate and the military. "Disputes will be heard by a tribunal of a planetary official, a ranking Fleet officer, and a Senator of an unaffiliated system."

Ahsoka knew that very process was going to make a lot of systems, even those with clandestine fleets of their own, hesitate to turn away Fleet requests. However, it also meant Fleet personnel would be careful of transgressions in order to avoid the politicians.

"Losing our authority in systems where we have been firmly established with bases and command structures seems like a major step back to the darker ages," Stage said. "These planetary savages do not understand the sacrifices necessary to maintain their security."

Ahsoka nearly bared her teeth at him; those so-called savages he was thinking of were mostly non-human, with cultures that had been in place for centuries or more. That they did not work in _human_ ways did not make them inferior. She drew her anger back to herself though, to let Vader answer him.

"The bases will be negotiated with the hosting planets, or moved to unused moons in the systems," Vader informed Strage, though he felt like the Admiral was a waste of his time. More, he was addressing it to Pellaeon, who was the true leader of note here, he had decided. "As for savages, Admiral Strage, I suggest you rearrange your concept of sentience swiftly. It would be a shame if I were to assign you to the patrol near Kashyyyk for instance, with that mentality."

Ahsoka nearly cheered for that threat, and enjoyed seeing Strage's face go very pale. It was so, so good to hear her _ori'vod_ sounding like himself again, nearly species-blind, and not part of the xenophobic human-only monstrosity the Empire was. She kept quiet, but oh, it was difficult. 

"You are all old enough to remember the Republic," Vader said, his head turning to look from one to the next, "for both its myriad troubles and dysfunctions, and for its strengths. Some of you are old enough to have served her... now you serve something new. Something free of the lies and deceit of the Empire, and -- with any grace -- also free of the worst troubles of the Old Republic. 

"It will not be easy to chart this route -- but is easy what any of you signed up for?!" 

Gilad Pellaeon listened to that speech, and felt some pride, once more, in what the Fleet could become under this new power structure. Certainly, there would be difficulties, but Vader's words held logic.

He did not look at Strage with even a hint of the contempt he felt for his superior officer; he would serve, as he always had, until such time as one of them died or was transferred. It was the nature of the military, with good and bad elements in the command structure.

"If it was," Vader went on, in a slightly more even tone, "I suggest you resign... immediately. Further questions?" 

"I have none, Lord Vader," Strage said, as if that fully concluded business.

"One, Lord Vader," Captain Pellaeon said, to his Admiral's irritation. He met the man's mask without fear. "With the restructuring, and the likely cuts to the Academy funding, will there be more care given before summary executions of officers that fail their tasks, and more effort made to rehabilitate their skills into useful positions?"

Ahsoka had to bite her lip, to see and hear this old man stand up for his men, knowing that Vader had been a scourge that hated failure.

Vader stared at him for a moment, feeling a profound urge to choke the man himself for his audacity... and then -- almost as much to his own startlement as anything else -- he laughed, low and rough, and very deeply disused. "That," he agreed, "is going to be something of a necessity. 

"But you just volunteered to oversee that retraining, Captain. Congratulations." 

That had not been the intent of Pellaeon's words at all. He just wanted to preserve the strongest asset of the Fleet, the trained men and women that were so irreplaceable. "Then I will need to confer with your admirals, and the Senate, for a suitable agreement for the Academies, and to see which ship can best be outfitted for training rotations," he said calmly, even as he wondered at the laughter from the man the entire Fleet had feared for so long.

Ahsoka merely wanted to cheer her head off for her _ori'vod_ 's self-control. He was doing so well as he moved forward, away from the lies and anger and hatred.

"So you shall," Vader said, nodding once. "I will cut you suitable orders before we leave the _Chimaera_ , Captain. Anything else?" 

"No sir," the Captain said, even as he was organizing the new task before him… again, ignoring the Admiral at his side. They all rose, as the briefing was at an end, and Ahsoka tasted the slight disgruntlement at losing Pellaeon among most of the staff officers.

Well, that was an interesting edge to the feel of them.... Hmm. This was a fairly old ship, if he'd read her transponder code correctly, a Class II. Perhaps Vader would see to transferring this useless Admiral to one of the other ships, and send this ship to Corida via the shipyards. He would need a familiar primary crew, if he was going to succeed at the task of straightening out the assortment of frustrating idiots his bravery had earned a second chance. 

Yes, he thought that would suit. 

+++++

Sergeant Kilo saluted before leaving Ahsoka at the door, where she sauntered in, all long limbs and easy in her skin… and flushed with having gotten a fantastic game of Tackle in with the Sergeant's squad. She was athletic by nature, and long periods aboard ship were hard on her. Luckily, the game was easily explained, and a bay had been available for them to use.

She had a feeling the troops would teach the Fleet before long, and there would be more competition of the healthy sort.

"One more day until we're there, right?" she asked as she came into Vader's main chamber, the hyperbaric shell sitting open and ready. Her entire Force signature was loud with satisfaction at a game well-played. "And I have officially corrupted a squad into my favorite clone game."

Behind the mask, he rolled his eyes (or what passed for it, in any case) and watched her lazy saunter with a great deal of amusement. "You did, did you? Somehow, I am unsurprised. And yes. One more day. How did a world this far from the Core manage to get itself this medically advanced, again?" 

It was a rhetorical question, and mostly said to express his own opinions on being stuck in the twisting not-space of hyperspace for a voyage in the hundred-plus hours range. 

"Probably to supply black market needs, to be honest," she answered anyway, sprawling on the couch he'd had brought in for her, since she refused a bed… and didn't like sleeping alone on this ship. Not in her own cabin anyway. 

She didn't like sleeping alone, period, but she'd done more of that than with someone, ever since leaving the Order. Rex always made up their long-absences, and never minded being her body pillow… a habit begun when she had still worn padawan beads.

He snorted darkly amused agreement, and watched her drape back into the couch while he rested against the wall. "Probably true," he agreed, before the flicker of her emotions caught his attention, and he lightly brushed curiosity across the bond between them. What was she thinking of, with so much wistfulness?

She turned her head toward him, then sighed. "Sorry, _ori'vod_. Talking to Kilo keeps making me miss… ah, kriff I never did get around to actually telling you, and I'd meant to as soon as we were in hyperspace." She snorted at her lack of attention to details, but then there had been the mutiny. "So, you picked up on the fact I have someone in my life. That someone is a person who would very much like to come around… if you're up for it, when we settle back in," she said, almost shyly as she thought about Rex and his loyalties.

"It wasn't difficult to notice," he replied, deliberately dry-voiced, before the last phrases -- and Ahsoka's tone of voice (shy, from his _ner'vod_?) -- sent warning bells chiming in the back of his mind. Who was there that could be her chosen lover that would want to be anywhere near Darth Vader? Or, even more unlikely, could possibly be her lover and want to be near what remained of Anakin Skywalker? 

He frowned at her, not particularly meaning it to come across the bond, and sorted through possibilities, discarding each one almost instantly. Almost everyone that had known them both -- and wasn't in his 501st -- would surely want him dead. And yet there was that tone... 

"It's Rex, big guy." She sat up a little, and the sound of her voice was at complete peace, even as she worried how he'd take it. "We, um, it's not just lovers, either. He said his vow, and I answered it, and that's how it's been since the first time we ran into each other after… well, after."

Rex? 

_Rex_?!

His emotions were going haywire, his heartbeat wanting to hammer the way it simply could not, fury and pain and relief and baffled confusion all slamming through him, his fingers flexing on nothing -- 

He was caught in strong arms, as Ahsoka flung herself over with the first distress. " _Ori'vod!_ Please, no… don't be upset with him! He hasn't come to see you because I asked him to give me time! Time to help you find who you want to be! He doesn't disobey my wishes." She tucked in under his arms, wrapping hers firmly around his waist, and her head on his shoulder, despite how the circuitry buzzed through her montrals.

He hooked his arms around her, holding her in against his chest, as he listened to her quick pleading words and the feel of her wrapping around him, settling into his space like she'd once settled into his lap, burrowing and coaxing... and so he listened, almost despite himself. 

That would be like his good right hand, his soldier, his close-companion... he'd started listening to Ahsoka a long time ago. And if they had -- if they'd -- 

They'd _married_. They had, if only known to each other, been able to make those vows. For a clone, for one of the only beings as much a slave as he had been, to decide _that_ , and for her to have -- 

"Kriff, he has to want my head on a plate..." 

That got a long bark of almost hysterical laughter from her. "Hardly, or at least not now." Ahsoka breathed in and out, slowly, making herself settle some. "He understands you're not the General. That you're moving forward. And he's pretty patient, understands it's important that I keep Leia safe as I can.

"Not sure either of us really understands anything outside of the twin precepts of duty and loyalty, when it comes to making a living." She smiled softly. "It's meant a lot of time apart, but we make it work for us." Even this last one, with Rex certain she was dead had only been a bump in the road, and they were at peace with it now.

She'd been laughing for long enough that he'd started considering dousing her with the feeling of cold water when she stopped, nuzzling in against his chest and breathing. "Mmm. Yes, that does sound like the two of you," he agreed slowly. 

'You're not the General'. No... he was not that man. Even less than he was Anakin Skywalker was he the man that had been first into the fray in every fight, thrown himself between every threat to his men and their bodies... "...how did I lose myself so completely, _ner'vod_?" 

It was barely a breath, but he knew she heard. 

"Stupid heads in the Order being stupider than normal on top of having old pickle-face pouring poison in your ears?" Ahsoka said softly. "And, you know, your number-one fan running off to figure out who the kriff she was didn't help." She squeezed his middle very gently, then concentrated her grasp on the Force to send a pool of energy through him, offering cool/soothing/gentle/calm to him. With it came her vow to stand by him through all of this, and a quieter, deadlier promise to end it, if he lost again.

He shifted his body, carefully, so that he could rest his hand between her shoulders, just below where her lekku fell now, wishing again that he could somehow rest the mask against her without hurting her, letting her application of the Force flow into him. It stung, a little, but it was... it was safe. 

"...'pickle-face'?" he questioned, the voder actually managing to cast most of his incredulous intent into the words, half appalled and half delighted. "And my number-one fan did what she needed to... but she's here now." 

She did have a point about the idiots in the Order, certainly. Idiots most certainly including _Kenobi_. 

"Pickle-face is the politest I'm going to be. If you prefer --" and she launched into the full, three minute long speech of Mando'a and Kaminoan epithets she had strung together to describe the late, unlamented Emperor. When she wound down, she grinned irrepressibly at him. "As to the latter… thank you, _ori'vod_ , for letting me be in your life, for trusting me again to be your _aliit_ again. We make a new future, and leave the past in remembrance."

Her tirade of profanity had him smiling under the mask in the first thirty seconds, and by the time she fell back into Basic, he was settled back down from the flare of fury, and petting lightly down her back to keep her close. "Yes," he agreed, still holding her. " _Aliit ori'shya tal'din,_ indeed, little sister.

"...but... I've seen what happens to one of the _Vode An_ that removes the chip, and I know he did..." That had been almost nineteen years ago, so nearly forty at that rate of aging, and he'd already been physically late-twenties... 

Ahsoka nodded into his chest. "Believe me, I know. He was so old when we found each other, and I just held onto him, held on as hard as I could… and then I decided I wasn't going to lose him so fast!" She looked back up, flash of teeth and determined hardness in her eyes. "I wasn't that bad at healing, had learned to share energy with you early on.

"So I did. I gave him everything I had, pushed myself almost to Force drain, and passed out. He's barely aged since, thank everything… especially since I seem to have misplaced three or four years." She mock-glared at him but bounced up on her toes to press a kiss against the plane of his mask to show she didn't mean it at all. What she had done had probably been slightly Dark… there had been a selfish component to it… but he was Rex, a fighter for the Light, and deserved it.

His eyes snapped wide inside the mask at her word, at the image he could see in her thoughts. Rex lying beside her, sheet half thrown over both of them, Rex's face more lined than he remembered, but not the face of a man past sixty, more... his own age, possibly? Hair still cut short, and still that faint buzzed blond, his dark eyes -- 

\-- he'd seen himself look at his angel like that, a lifetime ago. 

"He... he's all right. You saved him..." 

"We saved each other," she corrected, knowing how dangerously close to Falling she'd been while the deaths of the Jedi hammered through the Force. She had wanted to go, to hunt, to take down the dangerous, mad beast… but Rex had been out there, calling to her heart, giving her an anchor. "He is hopeful, like me," she told him. "But I honestly did not want to overwhelm you, not when we were having such trouble holding you up against the tide of those traps pickle-face left in your head about emotions."

"...that's going to be a long time," he told her, knowing it for the absolute truth, "but... you were probably right. Not to, I mean. 

"Kriff, I haven't even been able to go near _Artoo_ , let alone... If I'd known he was there..." 

"In time," she promised him. "And you can rest easier, knowing I have someone to go work off my anger with in ways that won't lead me down the path you already said you don't want me on." She ran a hand up to his shoulder, trying to use enough pressure for the skin there to actually register the touch through his suit. 

Taking care of her _ori'vod_ felt more right than it had since she'd been nearly a child, turned loose in the middle of a war with the hero he had been. His actions had been terrifyingly monstrous, but the only atonement was to rebuild what he had destroyed, now that he was not a puppet of a mad, power-hungry Sith Lord.

She touched him hard enough that he could _feel_ it, and he shifted into it, nodding a little, arm still holding her. "That... that is good. And you are free to be with him. 

"It is good." 

"Yeah." She didn't want to move from Vader for a long time, because he was hers to take care of now… and she would be his to care for as well.


End file.
